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Well managed pension funds should 'weather storm'

25 January 2008 / by None

Pension funds that are managed well should not be unduly concerned with the current market turbulence, according to Mercer.

The group points out that many of the UK's well established companies will have taken a market downturn into consideration and made appropriate anti-risk measures, while only those that have not implemented precautions should need to worry.

Commenting on the effect of market volatility on pension schemes, Tim Keogh, a worldwide partner at Mercer, said: "In conditions like these, the pensions regulatory system is very flexible and knee-jerk reactions are neither required nor desirable. So the message should be 'don't panic'."

He added that members should not be "overly concerned" about a decrease in the value of their scheme's assets, noting that the effects of a recession would be more significant to their employer as guarantor.

Elsewhere, Mercer recently said that pension schemes must act to set correct Pension Protection Fund levy payments over the next two years.